Page:Man — Fragments of Forgotten History.djvu/11

 INTRODUCTION. The present writers are bound to disclaim all pretence of having delineated more than the broad features of the subjects treated of in these pages. They are aware, however, that the world, at this late day, expects so little truth about the origin and infancy of man that it e steads but a grudging consideration to anything beyond the vaguest surmises and the most shadowy outlines; and is always ready to condemn, what it would call, the credulous temerity of an individual, who ventures accurately to survey regions of investigation which it pronounces unexplorable.

The small band of esoteric teachers, the inheritors of the secret knowledge of the ages, have till lately found silence to be the only means for its preservation. But the time has arrived for the world to receive a portion of their accumulated wealth. The choice, however, of the present method, so different from all preconceived ideas of the fitness of things, is sure to give rise to feelings of a very varied character. The question would naturally suggest itself why the discovery of ancient books and manuscripts, undeniably authentic and plainly historical, should not have been made the occasion for the revival of the forgotten lore, if the present generation is to be at all instructed in the story of the origin and infancy of its ancestors. The allegorical character, however, of ancient writings which